Hulu price drops following Netflix’s price increase

Hulu has announced that it plans to drop the price of its base subscription to $5.99, down from $7.99 per month – starting February 26, 2019. The price drop will not effect the amount of ads that were previously shown with the base rate. The “no ads” plan will stay at $11.99 per month while the current dual Spotify/Hulu subscription for $12.99 will remain in effect.

The price decrease come right on the heels of rival streaming giant Netflix’s recent announcement. In that announcement, Netflix is planning to increase the subscription fee on all plans. Of course, Netflix’s content is and has always been ad-free and it should remain that way in the foreseeable future.

MORE PRICE CHANGES

While Hulu previously announced that it has surpassed 25 million subscribers, Netflix has more than twice that in its user base. However, not everything is peachy for Hulu customers. The Hulu Live TV service will experience a price increase of its own – from its current price of $39.99 to $44.99. That’s almost a $40 difference between the basic streaming subscription and the Live TV service. Just like Netflix, Hulu is justifying the price increase. This will happen both by improving the tech and reliability of the service, but also by adding new content like the recent deal they struck with Discovery Inc.

The biggest question still remains to be answered. Disney Inc. is currently in stages of acquiring majority ownership over Hulu. With Disney’s plans to launch their own streaming service with Disney+, it remains to be seen what the future of Hulu holds. Will it be devoured an disappear, or will Disney allow it to remain its own entity?

Advertisement

Comcast, which currently holds a 30% stake in Hulu doesn’t plan to sell too quickly, and neither do WarnerMedia who own 10%.

The new Hulu pricing goes live on February 26. Existing subscribers will see the change in the following billing cycle.